Washington – Using humor, attitude and the occasional put-down, some presidential candidates are filling the airwaves with ads to stir activists and create an early, positive brand for their campaign.

Mitt Romney has assembled a narrative with nearly $4 million in ads this year that have helped propel him from near obscurity to the top of GOP public opinion polls in early nominating states Iowa and New Hampshire.

Democrat Bill Richardson, perhaps drawing confidence from Romney’s experience, is buying significant advertising time in those states. The New Mexico governor is running ads that spoof his second-tier status in the field despite a résumé with extensive experience. His poll numbers also have improved.

Those ads, as well as smaller buys of airtime by Democrats Christopher Dodd and John Edwards, point up the intensity of the early stages of the 2008 race. They also represent a more sophisticated and integrated approach to underdog campaigning than in past elections.

The current reliance on advertising also sends an indisputable message – the 30- second television commercial remains the warhorse of political campaigns.

“All the talk about the Internet and YouTube, the (candidates) who are performing best in the polls are the ones putting their money on old-fashioned television spots,” said Evan Tracey, chief operating officer at TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising.

Leading candidates such as Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama and Republicans John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have strong name identification and have not had to use TV commercials to introduce themselves to voters. Their ad campaigns probably will begin in earnest in fall.

For Romney, the task has been different. He had the money – he raised $20 million in the first three months of the year – but not the name recognition. In addition, he had been the GOP governor of liberal Massachusetts, and conservatives were not prepared to embrace him with open arms.

On the Democratic front, Richardson appears to have made the most of his campaign ads. They have stressed his experience as a member of Congress, a Cabinet secretary, a U.N. ambassador and now a governor. He has moved up in some polls into fourth position behind Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

Richardson’s ads, a two-part series, portray him as an applicant pitching his experience to an indifferent job interviewer. In one ad, his interviewer runs through his credentials, stops, takes a bite from a sandwich, and asks: “So, what makes you think you can be president?”

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